Beneath Darkness
by xSerrahBaratheonx
Summary: The fears you don't face, become your limit; and so thirteen year old Lily Reese will soon learn. When unforeseen circumstances allow her to join the Losers club, and all hell breaks lose throughout Derry, Maine, she embarks upon an unforgettable journey and must ultimately fight for her and her new friends' lives.
1. Chapter 1

_**O N E**_

Her dirty, worn out converse kicked a large pebble across the creek in which she had found herself standing in for most of the day. Lily Reese was just shy of fourteen but no one knew that. No one cared to ask.

Lily was used to being alone and she had become accustomed to being alright with it. She had one friend at least. Her name was Bella Burke.

Mind you, she was only her friend when everyone else from school wasn't around. She couldn't let her blooming reputation be scorned with that of being associated with a freak, a loner, a loser. The daily names Lily often heard whispered about herself leaking through the hallways of Derry High. Boy was she glad she'd be away from that hell hole for a few months.

Her honey coloured shoulder length hair felt hot against her head. There was a slight feeling of regret that washed through her for not throwing her hair back a few hours prior to her descion of being at the creek in the midst of the afternoon. She could feel the perspiration trickling down her temples and she found herself wishing the water was deep enough to engulf her completely. Though the cool liquid filling her sneakers to the brim did help a little at least.

Her thoughts pondered to what was waiting for her when she walked through the rickety cracked door that belonged to the house she unfortunately called home. Lily came from a broken home, but, at least she was fed and clothed. The lack of care and attention she had stopped receiving at the tender age of four did have a tendency of wearing on her a lot.

Lily's father, Jack Reese, was the typical dead beat. Sometimes he'd pop back in the Reese's life for a quick screw and fast buck from her mother, and acknowledge her for a mere few minutes, but it was never for long and it was far in between months.

Lily's mother on the other hand, she was a separate story all on her own. On her sober days, Gail Reese could be seen laughing and smiling and being the mother Lily had desperately wanted for years, but those days were farther in between than her father's rare pop ins. Gail was known as Derry's town whore; you throw her a bill and she was yours to do with what you pleased for however long you pleased.

A week after Lily's fifth birthday, she was the first one off of her school bus, which always stopped on Sixth and Seventh avenue a quarter past three. She had made the perfect flower pot, blended exceptionally with every colour she could get into it and she had never been more proud of anything in her tender-aged life.

The second she flung her front door open, was the second she knew and had decided to stop being dependant on her mother, or anyone for that matter. It was the second everything inside of her twisted and became numb. Any hopes and ambitions and good feelings Lily had, had left were quickly squashed like a mosquito on a somber day in the summer time when she saw her mother sprawled out on the living room floor, lifeless and surrounded by needles. The usual mess that Lily was made to live in was more excessive and the stench of something rotting was so strong her nose had burned.

Her mother didn't die that day but a huge part of Lily did and she knew she would never forgive her mother for that fact for as long as her heart continued to beat.

Lily used to be ashamed of sharing the same blood with either of her parents, for obvious reasons, but as she grew, she grew to learn that their actions were not her fault and eventually, she'd be away from them and Derry and everything in it.

The only good thing that came from Lily's mother being the way she was, was that in all of the total chaos, Lily's younger sister Tessa was born and somehow had been born healthy. She was seven years old and aspired Lily to be anything she wanted to be. She counted the days to escape from Derry's death grip and she would stop at nothing to do so, making sure Tessa would be at her side when she did it.

Smiling to herself slightly at the sensation of feeling free momentarily, she was suddenly startled by a loud scuffling behind her, which was followed by muffled cries. With a frown, she was quick to investigate the source of the noise, in which she discovered it to be Beverly Marsh. Another outcast of Derry High.

Their eyes met and Beverly took a sharp breath, brushing aside her piercing red hair that had clung to her petite freckled face. She looked filthy, was drenched to the core and she smelled as if she had gone swimming inside of a port-a-potty. Lily wasn't sure what to say so felt relief rippling inside of her when Bev was the first to speak.

"I, uh, it's a long story."

"I wasn't going to ask." Lily gave her a shy smile. "Are you okay?"

"Ooh Beverley!" A voice cut through the air with a sing song tone to it. "You can't out run us forever. Come on, we just want to play. I'll ask nicely this time," it was then followed by a laugh.

Henry Bowers, the little shit. If there was one person Lily loathed more than her own mother, it was him. Though she was sure anyone with a working brain felt the same way, out cast or not.

Within seconds, Henry appeared out of what seemed like nowhere, followed by his two cronies; Belch and Patrick. They were both just as bad, but Lily wasn't sure if it was because they were trapped in some sort of spell by Bowers or if it was because they consciously chose to be that way. Regardless of any of their real motives, if they were hit by a bus, Lily would have celebrated.

Bev had stumbled a few more steps further and stood beside Lily, who had instantly straightened up her posture. The two girls were in a face off with the cruelest boys of Derry, and neither of them had any intention to back down.

"Well if it isn't the loser whore and the loser freak bonding together, how sweet," Henry laughed.

"You're one to talk you hillbilly fuck." Lily spat out.

While Henry was the meanest in the town, his look could have fooled you. With a thick blonde mullet and a tattered pair of jean shorts matched with a light red muscle shirt, he didn't seem as if he posed a threat to anyone, but oh the old saying that looks can be deceiving really rang true with that one.

Henry's eyebrow arched and he gave his cronies a smirk before turning his attention back to the girls. "Hey boys, check out the mouth on this one. How about you put it to better use sweet-cheeks?" he then grabbed his crotch through his jeans and made a few thrusting motions upwards, which caused his cronies to laugh and both girls to roll their eyes with a disgusted groan.

"If only finding it were that easy," Bev shot back, a hand instantly going to her hip and a cold stare on her face, her plump lips curling into a grin.

"You'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Beverly?" Patrick retorted, which received a high five from Belch.

"And you'd know nothing about it because anyone of the opposite gender would rather run the other way. Is that why you stick with the dicks? Easier for you to get, huh?" Lily fired. She wasn't sure what it was, but having Beverley standing next to her seemed to help build up her confidence.

Patrick's long black greasy hair seemed to glisten in the sun, his once humorous look fading quickly into a glare and he stepped forward angrily. "I outta slap those words right back down your throat,"

Lily took a step back while Bev stayed still. Henry let out a laugh and put his hand out, motioning for his friend to stop. "Let's show them what real men can do. Grab her," he motioned to Beverly. "And I'll get this one." He motioned to Lily.

Lily felt her breath hitch in her throat and her skin prickle with fear. Would Henry Bowers really try to do something more than tease her and torment her with things about her past, that he shouldn't have even known about to begin with? She looked over at Beverly, her vibrant green eyes swimming with worry. Beverly looked scared too but did her best not to show it, until all of the boys lurched forward that was.


	2. Chapter 2

**T W O**

Their feet were slipping off the rocks as they struggled, hearts pounding, fear making their steps heavy as the chilled creek water splashed up into their faces and eyes making it difficult to see where they were going.

Lily and Beverly knew that if they got up the shoulder and into the road, they would be safe- at least for a brief period of time. Lily was huffing heavily for gasps of air and Beverly's eyes stayed focus, her determination to get them the hell away from Bowers and his pack never falling short.

The boys weren't far behind, hooting and hollering like a bunch of crazed delinquents.

Stopping for a second, Lily grimaced as her lungs burned deep inside of her, trying desperately to catch her breath. Her legs felt as if they had become jello encased in skin. Beverly also stopped a few feet ahead when she noticed Lily had come to a halt.

"Come on, they are going to catch up!" Beverly pleaded extending her hand out to her.

Lily straightened her posture, gave her a nod and then reached out and grabbed Beverly's hand, the girls locking fingers and instantly taking back off into the tree flooded scenery.

The sound of a flame igniting and laughter echoed through the air. Lily knew it was Patrick Hockstetter spraying hairspray over top of a lighter for the simple fact that he did it daily at Derry High.

The girls got to the edge of the shoulder and had made it a few feet up just as the boys caught up. Belch grabbed Beverly's backpack and yanked her backwards, causing her to scream and fall onto the rocks beneath them and Henry did the same to Lily.

Landing beside Beverley, she let out a pained whimper and turned her head to look at the ginger haired girl. There was fear in her eyes. Lily pushed herself up so that she was on her hands and knees but instantly regretted it as a hard-toed sneaker connected into her ribs. She cried out and fell forward, the skin on her palms skidding across the damp rocks, causing the skin to break and bleed. Her brand new light blue dress that she had saved up for from collecting random change and dollar bills that accumulated in her couch was drenched in the creek water. Her ribs instantly felt as if someone had taken them and broke them in half. It was like a raging hot fire had exploded in her torso.

Beverly had pushed herself up so that her elbows supported her. She looked over at the girl helplessly who had begun to sputter and whine in pain.

"Leave her alone, Belch!"

A line of flames blew at her face viciously and the tall lanky boy that stood behind it smirked when Bev jumped. Belch Huggins, who had a chunkier build and a baseball cap chuckled, standing inches away from the boy and Lily as well. "You gonna make me, whore?"

Henry approached Lily, grabbing her by the forearm and flipping her over so that she was laying with rocks digging into her back. "Not so tough now, hm?" he was inches away from her face.

Without warning, Beverly shoved her foot upward with all of her might and kicked Patrick hard in the groin as he approached her. He let out a scream of pain and fell down to his knees, his large skinny hands instantly cupping his damaged goods. Belch rushed to his aid and Henry looked over at them surprised.

Lily took that as her cue. She scurried backwards, ignoring the burning pain that shot through her bloodied hands and got to her feet. She ran as fast as she could into the shrubs and away from the shoulder, and Beverly, not looking back.

Henry's head whipped back toward her and his eyes narrowed. He couldn't help but scowl. For once though, he was actually concerned about someone other then himself. Patrick had crawled to the edge of the creek and began to vomit. She couldn't run for forever so catching her eventually was inevitable.

"Get him out of here, Belch." He demanded, pointing up the shoulder.

Without hesitating, Belch nodded and lifted his friend to his feet and within moments, they were both gone out of sight, Patrick still bent over, gagging and gasping in pain. This left Henry and Beverly alone, who had managed to also get to her shaky feet.

"Some friend you got, huh?" Henry chuckled out, holding his hands out and doing a small turn. "Nowhere to be found."

Beverly said nothing and glared at him, doing her damnedest to make it seem like the entire chase and now stand off weren't bothering her at all. Her elbow was scraped up and so was the side of her leg, mostly on her left side and her dress had torn at the side- also soaking wet.

"I'm about to pleasure you more than your Daddy ever could," Henry's voice was low and cruel and his eyes were dark. "And once I'm done, you'll be begging me for more."

Beverly let out a shriek once Henry grabbed a hold of her arm and then jumped backwards when a loud thump echoed throughout the trees.

Henry stared at her for a moment and then fell to the ground harshly, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, water seemingly exploding around him.

Standing behind him was Lily. She was holding a large broken tree branch and her green eyes were wide. She had never done something so drastic before in her entire life. Henry deserved it of course but that didn't stop the fear that suddenly seeped through her veins like a bad infection. She knew they wouldn't see the last of him or his cronies but at least for then, she and Beverly were safe.

"You came back." Beverly breathed out, staring down at Henry.

"Of course I did. I'm sure you would have done the same thing." Lily gave her a weak smile. "Now let's get out of here before he wakes up or his friends come back."

"Agreed." Beverly took a slow step over Henry's unconscious body and both girls took off running, not caring how long it took them to get back into the town, just as long as they did.

•

It was a quarter past five when Lily and Beverly made it to Lily's house. Lily's mother had been absent for the last three days and her little sister was over at her best friend's house for the week. Molly Jenkins was a sweet little girl and Lily was glad Tessa had her, and her family.

Lily pushed the front door open and led Beverly into the bathroom, pulling out unused gauze, peroxide and medical tape from behind the mirror that was above the bathroom sink .

"Here, sit down there," Lily pointed to the edge of the bathtub.

Beverly looked around. The bathroom was your typical one, with a white bath tub, that had a tiled backsplash, a toilet that sat a few feet away from it and a white porcelain sink that sat beside that with the mirror above it. The shower curtain was tattered but it was purple and there was a single painting of a large lighthouse that sat upon a calm beach that hung above the toilet. There was also a tall plastic stand that had a few accessible drawers that sat near the corner by the bathtub and it appeared full of different things.

Beverly smiled at her new friend as she seemed focus on tending to her scrapes. "Do you always have this stuff in your house?"

Lily looked up at her as she applied the peroxide to Beverly's leg injury and then covered it was gauze. She gave her a small smile back. "When you have the kind of mom I do, it becomes a necessity. All the time."

"I don't have a mom," the ginger girl said quietly.

Lily applied pressure and taped the gauze to her, stopping when Beverly spoke. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

The girls exchanged another smile and within a few minutes, both of their scrapes were cleaned and covered. Lily unfortunately had one down the side of her jaw that crept up her cheek so it couldn't be covered but she wore it proudly; a war wound for the first war she had won.

The girls talked and giggled for a while, each enjoying each other's company for neither of them had ever truly had a friend before fate's decision to throw them together.

"I better be going. My dad will throw a fit if I'm not back before Derry's stupid curfew," Beverly suddenly said noticing the time. The worry that crept into her face seemed like it belonged to other reasons besides being late for a curfew. Lily couldn't identify what exactly it was though.

Lily nodded and both girls began to walk the four and a half blocks it took for Beverly to reach the apartment building she resided in.

There was a slight chill to the air and the sky had begun to darken, blanketing certain parts with bright stars. It was very eerie due to the fact that everyone was scared and inside before the 7pm town curfew even took effect. Not that they could be blamed however, after little Georgie Denbrough went missing, and multiple children after him, the fear and panic struck in anyone's heart was very much real and very understandable.

The girls reached the bottom of the fire escape that crept up the apartment building and Beverly looked around, frowning slightly.

"You shouldn't walk back alone."

"I'm not worried about the curfew, it's okay." Lily said reassuringly.

"It's not the curfew I worry about. It's Bowers and his boyfriends."

Lily giggled. "Don't worry, Bev. I'll be fine. I'll just beat him with another stick if I have to." She joked. "Maybe we can hang out tomorrow? If you're not busy I mean."

Beverly's eyes lit up. "Yeah! I mean, I'm never busy," she chuckled. "I'll come by at some point tomorrow when I can."

Lily nodded. "Sounds good to me."

The girls waved goodbye and within a moment, Lily was back on her way home.

Lily walked slowly, playing a silent game with herself. Every time she found a stone, she would kick it and see if she could kick it even further the next time. She had always wanted to play soccer but never had the funds, or the bravery to actually do it. It sucked.

Once Lily turned into Turner street, which was her street, she stopped suddenly, staring down the empty darkened street. Near her house stood a little girl, that looked an awful lot like her little sister- almost identical for that matter.

"Tessa?" Lily called out, she began to walk again, purposely picking up her pace.

The little girl stayed still, with her back to her. Her long dark hair looked tangled and the dress she was wearing looked way too big.

"Tessa!" Lily called again, this time a little louder and more concerned.

The girl stayed unmoving.

Finally after a short jog, Lily reached the small girl. She was within arms reach and Lily couldn't understand why even after shouting her name and now being right behind her, that she wasn't answering her. She feared the worse for her little sister. What if something was wrong? What if she was in shock because of seeing something horrible? What the hell happened? What the hell was wrong with her?

Lily placed a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder and slowly stared to turn her toward herself. "Tessa, why-"

Once the girl spun around, Lily let out a shrill shriek of terror and stumbled backwards, tripping over her own two feet and falling backwards onto the road.

The girl's face was twisted and turned sideways, where her eyes used to be, were nothing but black, bloody holes that began to drip maggots. Her head began to twitch violently and her mouth opened wide- wider than humanly possible.

Lily's heart was racing so fast she felt as if her values were going to burst. She shook her head, hot tears brimming in her eyes and she scurried backwards, much like she did when she was given the chance to get away from Bowers.

The girl then suddenly vomited a sticky black substance at her. It missed Lily's shoes by a few centimetres. Lily began to cry and got to her feet, taking a few steps backwards, gasping out when she saw the girl's arms stuck with what seemed like a million needles.

"T-T-Tess.." she couldn't even get the words out.

The girl's head twisted to the side, the bones in her neck crunching at the motion, and a bunch of red balloons floated behind her suddenly, filling the dark sky with their red essence. And then she let out a sickening sound and ran forward at Lily, rotting arms stretched out, head still to the side.

With a terrified scream, and tears pouring from her face, Lily turned around and took off running.

She didn't know where she was going to go but anywhere away from whatever the hell that thing was, was better. Even if it meant running straight into something else.


	3. Chapter 3

**E**

Fear is a crippling thing. It holds you down, ravages your body, and destroys your mind. You can't think straight; all you can do is run or fight it and even then, sometimes it's not enough. Sometimes fear has a way of making you succumb to it's deepest desires and there isn't one thing humanly possible you could ever do to stop it.

Lily was captivated in it. The scream that desperately wanted to leave her lungs stayed trapped, unable to release. She had run so fast her feet felt as if they were flying off the pavement. And the second she turned her head to see how far behind the girl that was obviously not her sister was, her entire body collided into what felt like a brick wall.

Lily was so tired of falling into hard surfaces. Her body could only take so much. She let out a gasp and hurried to her feet, looking around desperately for her attacker. The girl who had maggots in her eye sockets and a twisted, broken neck was gone and nowhere to be seen.

"What the hell Peanut Butter Cup?! What are you running from, your Mom?"

Lily let out another gasp and whirled toward the voice, a look of dread casting across her frightened face. It wasn't a wall she crashed into, it was Richie Tozier; the last person she wanted to see right then, or ever for that matter. He was such a trash mouthed little turd. The fear she had been feeling previously to that was still very much rippling inside of her, but a small part of her also felt relief that she wasn't alone.

Richie pushed his large glasses up his nose and smirked at her, resting his arms on the handle of his bike. The frames he wore made his mocha coloured eyes appear ten times bigger, which made him look kind of goofy and his dark hair was constantly everywhere. The street light above them cast a glisten off of his glasses.

Lily had disliked him ever since the second grade when he had pulled her hair and poured glue into her lunch bag and she especially hated the fact that he constantly called her Peanut Butter Cup. Due to her last name being Reese, he thought he was very clever and hadn't stopped calling her such ever since he made the connection.

Lily's heart thudded loudly, she was sure even Richie could hear it. For a moment, her dislike for the boy subsided. "Y-you didn't see her?"

Richie frowned and looked around, brushing a few stands of his hair away from his face. "See who?"

"The girl," Lily said looking around in a panic. "She l-looked like Tessa but it wasn't her.. this girl w-was deformed looking a-and,"

Richie's expression turned into amusement. "You sure you just didn't see your mother through the window?"

"Shut up, Tozier. I'm serious." Lily glared and then looked down at her feet. "It was terrifying."

Richie rolled his eyes. "Jesus, if you're going to act like you're on crack, maybe you should just follow me so you can get back home alive." He let out a chuckle. "You're a big ass pansy, you know that?"

"I don't care if you believe me," she spat defensively crossing her arms. "What I saw was real, and I don't need anyone's help to go anywhere, especially not yours."

Richie shrugged. "Okay, have fun with whatever you think you saw." He then grabbed a hold of his bike handles and began to walk passed her.

Lily watched him for a minute as he walked further away, arms still crossed before looking around and letting out an annoyed groan.

"Wait," she did a small jog and caught up to him. "You were seriously just going to leave me alone back there? Wow, your parents sure did a bang up job raising you."

Richie had stopped and looked over at her with a grin. "At least both of my parents are around."

Lily couldn't help but glare at him. "I'd rather it that way then to be running around like a neglected little shit such as yourself."

Richie chuckled. "Am I walking you back to the crack house you call home or what?"

"How about you walk straight to hell instead?"

Without missing a beat, Richie let out a laugh. "Was already there, took over the throne a long time ago."

Lily rolled her eyes and stormed passed him, her damp sneakers seemingly stabbing the pavement as she stomped by. This time he was the one left behind.

Richie mounted his bike and started doing large circles around her. "You know, you really are hormonal. That time of the month, huh?"

Lily didn't even give him the satisfaction of looking at him. "I'm surprised you even know anything about how the female reproductive system works." she grumbled.

Richie's nose wrinkled and he did another big loop around her. "Gross."

"I'm sure that's what your mother said when she found out you embedded yourself into her uterus too."

They made eye contact and Richie laughed which caused Lily to unwillingly smile. They both looked away from each other and Lily looked down after Richie had cleared his throat. Both stayed silent for the rest of the walk back to Lily's house and when they reached the front, Richie squeezed his breaks and watched as she stomped up the cracked paved way that lead to her front door.

Lily stopped when her fingers wrapped around the door handle and turned back around. "Thank you," she turned back around again and forced the door open. "But for the record, I still don't like you."

He pretended to be offended and held his hand to his chest. "I'm way too cute to hate."

"You wish, Tozier." She smirked as she stepped inside of her house.

"See you later, Peanut Butter Cup."

And at that, he got back into his bike, skidded slightly as he picked up speed and took off down the street. Lily rolled her eyes for what felt like millionth time but then smiled. What a loser.

Shutting the door behind her and locking it, she looked around her house, sighing as the strong smell of smoke wafted into her nostrils. Even though her mother had been gone for a few days, the smell never seemed to fade. She was surprised she could see anything at all due to the lights being off. A part of her worried and was afraid, for if she saw something thy horrifying outside while being surrounded by a darkening sky and street lamps, what could possibly be waiting inside an empty, dark house?

Feeling her heart skip, she picked up her pace and headed toward her bedroom, where she knew that the comfort of light engulfing her would soon be. Stopping dead in her tracks however, she turned her head slowly at the sound of a slow clicking; almost as if it were nails against a wine glass.

"Girls your age shouldn't be running the town with boys." Her mother spoke harshly. "You get a reputation and they are nothing but trouble."

Lily bit her bottom lip and shut her eyes tight for a moment, pulling herself together. She had so much she could've said, but knew for the sake of herself not to. "It's not what you think, Mom. I'm going to bed now, it's getting late and I'm tired." Lily attempted to take another step forward, the desire to be inside of her room just that much stronger.

"Especially that Tozier boy," her mother continued as if Lily hadn't said a word. "Boys only want one thing, and he's no exception."

That was it. Lily felt a hot sensation rise from her chest and into her throat. It was her words and she knew that she would be burned from them later. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you, mother?" Lily asked dryly, her words were dripping with venom.

The click sounds stopped suddenly and the amber glow that seemed as if it appeared out of nowhere vanished.

"What did you just say to me, little girl?"

Lily's breath hitched and she looked desperately down the hallway, suddenly wishing she could teleport. Her bravery was quickly squashed like ants on a side walk full of kids.

Before Lily knew it, her mother had gotten up from her ripped up lazy boy and was charging at her, holding out her fake acrylic nails as if they were a set of animals claws ready to destroy. Lily scrambled, running as fast as she could away from her, hoping the alcohol that was seeping through her mother's veins and out of her gaping mouth would slow her down some.

Gail swung forward as she and her daughter rushed down the hallway, convinced she would make contact. Instead, she stumbled slightly and almost lost her balance, which infuriated her more. "I'm going to kill you!" She roared out, the buzz that rocketed through her body tingling.

Lily managed to get to her door and reef it out, she got inside only to have a push war with her mother on the other side. If she got it shut, she could dead bolt it and she'd be alright. Her mother would eventually give up and pass out and then forget the next morning, but it was getting to that point that had Lily feeling like she was in a marathon for her life. She had never back talked before for she knew what would happen if she did. Hell, she knew what would happen even if she didn't, hence the dead bolt. She had installed it herself when she was nine because of the multiple men coming in and out of the house. The first time Lily had stolen anything from a store was for those materials, and she knew it wouldn't have been her last time doing it either.

Lily shoved hard, hoping and praying that her mother would move backwards even just a few inches so she could make the wood connect into the frame.

Gail was relentless, shoving back, determined to teach her ungrateful little shit of a daughter a lesson. A wave of dizziness washed over her and she blinked furiously, trying to rid the blurred vision which was seemingly taking over.

It was just enough for Lily. She let out a small scream and got the door shut, immediately pulling the dead bolt closed. The banging and yells of her mother continued on the outside. The door creaked and groaned, moving outwards as Gail smashed herself into it.

Lily walked over to her radio box, turned it on and blared it as loud as she could, following suit to walk back over to the door and slide down it, covering her ears with her palms.

She found herself wishing her mother would just collapse and stop already. She wished it was over. She wished that the morning was there already so that she could just leave. She wished that she could just run into Beverly again.

They say a dream is a wish your heart makes, so why was it that none of hers ever came true?

Lily was hopeless.

It was _never_ going to get better.


	4. Chapter 4

The morning rolled around and everything was still and eerily quiet. Lily had fallen asleep against her door and when she awoke, her neck sent a sharp pain down into her spine and even up through her temple. The ache was everywhere.

Lily let out a groan and straightened her neck the best way she could. Not surprised that there was a kink in it because of how she had somehow slumped over in the middle of the night, she got to her feet and went over to the window.

The street was empty, strange being that it was summer, but regardless, Lily quickly got dressed into a pair of white legging capris and a short sleeved black dress that stopped above her knees. It was nothing fancy and she didn't care. She threw her blonde hair back into a pony tail and got ready to face the demon that had birthed her, if she was even awake that was.

She often found herself daydreaming, desperately fantasizing about what it would be like to have a new mother, and father; just to have a whole new life in general. Lily was far from religious, for she felt what kind of God that is claimed to love his children would allow her to be born to such wickedness and cruelness? It didn't make sense. She prayed every night regardless. The only thing in her pathetic life that she wouldn't have ever changed was her little sister. The little girl didn't know it but she had saved Lily's life countless time. She was her only reason for not taking off barefoot in the middle of a stormy night and running as fast and as far away as she could, and not looking back for even a second.

Tessa was her world.

Slowly creaking her door open, cringing every time it made even the slightest sound, she cautiously looked around the hallway. Every door was shut and her mother was nowhere to be seen, Lily knew not to count her chickens before they hatched however. Boy did she ever.

When Lily was ten and Tessa was four, a huge argument had ensured throughout the Reese's living room. Her mother had another man in the house, God only knew what number he was, Tessa got mixed in the crossfire and had gotten hurt trying to protect her mother, who had been choked almost unconscious over the couch.

To make a long story short, Lily retaliated for the first time in the only way she knew how, and that was to hit the man with the closet object possible, which was a lamp.

The return attack was much worse and she laid on that carpeted floor in a pool of her own blood and with bruises to which eventually turned into scars, and a little sister who laid next to her and never left her side. She to that day, had no idea where her mother or the man even went. She never saw him again. And she felt blessed for that.

The instant Lily heard the fridge open from inside of the kitchen, she quietly and quickly shut her door and locked it again. With a sigh, she looked around and then decided that out her bedroom window was the safer bet. She was sure her mother didn't even remember the events of the night before but she didn't want to take the chance.

After slipping on a pair of nearby flats and grabbing her tattered backpack, Lily easily lifted her window and attempted to climb out of it.

With a grunt, she tried to release herself from the frame and rolled her eyes at the realization that her dress had snagged on a stray piece of wood. She was hanging side ways out of her window, a few feet from the ground. Ripping her dress was inevitable but getting the wood to release it to begin with was the issue. Lily tugged hard at the fabric and tried to get her feet to the ground, with no avail. She briefly feared she'd be stuck that way.

"Need some help?" A soft voice came, a giggle following after.

Lily looked around and her eyes landed on Beverly. She shyly looked down at the ground, which seemed so close yet so far away. "Yes." She mumbled out.

Beverly grinned, put her own knapsack and bicycle down and within seconds Lily was on her feet beside her, the right side of her dress torn up the side. The girls stood awkwardly for a moment before Beverly finally broke the silence.

"I'm heading to the quarry. Want to come with me?"

"I don't have a bathing suit," Lily looked down again.

Beverly's ginger toned eyebrow raised slightly and she let out a small chuckle. "So?"

Lily smiled up at her and after Beverly grabbed her things, they headed off toward one of the only good places in that godforsaken town. Beverly walked with her bike and Lily fiddled with the loose strap of her own backpack.

As they walked, Lily looked up at the girl and gave her a half hearted smile. "Thanks."

Beverly looked at her, unsure of what she was thanking her for.

"You know, for helping me when I was dangling out of my window like a dork." she finished.

Beverly smirked. "No big deal. Not everyone has the convenience of a fire escape at their feet."

The girls exchanged another smile and within fifteen minutes, they reached the quarry.

After pushing through a bunch of shrubs, they came upon a group of boys who stood in their underwear, clearly afraid to jump into the clear water at least twenty feet below. The scenery that unfolded before them, despite the half naked boys, was breath taking. The sky was unclouded and the trees which were spread out everywhere had luscious green leaves, unmoving, staying perfectly still. There was countless protruding from the cliff on which they stood as well as many below that seemingly shaded parts of the water.

It took Lily a moment to realize that Richie was apart of the group and when she did, her fast attempt at leaving was quickly shot down when Beverly stopped her.

Apart of the group of boys was Richie, Bill Denbrough, Eddie Kaspbrak, Stan Uris and one of the new kids that was often a loner in the town library, Ben Hanscom.

They were all muttering over who spit a logy the furthest and about who should jump first. Beverly was quick to throw herself into the mix and did so proudly.

"I'll go!" She called. Beverly had set her bike down alongside her knapsack and began to peel away her dress, revealing a white bra and light blue panties. "Sissies." She smirked and with a small jog, she got past the boys and launched herself into the cool water below.

"What the fuck?!" Richie's voice bellowed.

All five boys stared at the water below as she resurfaced and laughed. "Come on!"

"Aw holy shit, we just got shown up by a girl!" Richie practically whined.

"Does that mean we have to do that now?" Stan's voice came.

"Yes." Eddie nervously said.

The boys exchanged looks and one by one, they plummeted into the water below; Eddie remaining last.

Lily shook her head and turned to leave for the second time, but stopped when Eddie spoke.

"You aren't coming too?"

Lily turned back on her heel slightly and shyly looked at him. "I didn't think anyone even noticed me." She said truthfully.

Eddie shrugged. "I think the rest of the guys just wanted to make sure their egos weren't burned anymore."

"Are you going to jump?"

Eddie scouffed. "I don't want to, but if I don't and another girl jumps before I do, well," he trailed off. "I'm sure you can imagine the summer nickname I'll be stuck with."

Lily grinned. "We can jump together."

Eddie suddenly became more aware of the fact that he was standing in front of a girl in just his underwear. His face flushed a deep red and he whirled around so that his back was to her. He cleared his throat and then nodded quickly. "Okay. You ready?"

Lily looked around nervously and then took off her dress and leggings so that she was too was just in her underwear, which was also a white bra and purple panties.

"Count it?" Lily asked, kicking off her flats and making her way to stand beside Eddie.

"Come on, you pussy!" Richie called up.

Eddie rolled his eyes and timidly looked over at Lily who looked down at Richie with a glare but then smiled over at him.

"One, two," he breathed out.

"Three!" Lily grabbed a hold of Eddie's hand and pulled him forward, a small scream of fear ripping into the air. They both rocketed towards to water, the other kids laughing and cheering them.

The chilled water engulfed them, Lily's hot skin instantly rippling with relief. After a moment, they both surfaced and laughed together as everyone swam to them, splashing them as much as they could.

Giggling, she watched as Richie sat upon Ben's shoulders and tried to push Beverly backwards as she sat on Bill's shoulders. She eventually fell and Richie roared out in victory, which was soon followed by Ben rocketing him from his shoulders and laughing as Richie submerged.

Without warning, Lily was lifted from the water and looking down with a gasp which followed by another giggle, she came to the realization that she was on Eddie's shoulders and was then face to face with Stan who was on Richie's shoulders.

"Ready to meet your maker?" Stan challenged with a grin.

"I was born ready." Lily smiled back, her hands out and her back straightened so that she had better control.

"Take her down, Stanny!" Richie laughed.

That boy sure can recover fast, Lily thought.

Stan and Lily's hands locked together and it was a pushing war which eventually ended with Lily falling off of Eddie backwards. Lily shot back up and pushed her hair from her face and laughed.

"Well played, Uris."

Stan bowed, still on Richie's shoulders. "I will always be victorious." His voice had cracked, a sure sign of puberty taking over.

"Whatever you say noodle head." She teased.

Richie launched Stan backwards but let out a gurgle when Stan grabbed him and took him underwater with him. The group laughed and continued on taking turns having chicken fights.

Lily remained with Eddie and carefully got back into his shoulders and watched as Bill let Richie get onto his with a smirk.

"Oh you're going down Peanut Butter Cup." Richie held his hands out ready, pushing his dark hair away from his own face first.

Lily looked down at Eddie who rolled his eyes at his friend and then smiled up at her. He held onto her legs and stood firmly as best as he could. Her eyes met with Richie's again and she couldn't help but cock an eyebrow.

"You really think you can take me, Tozier?"

"Of course. I'm the King of Chicken."

"You're right, you are the king of chickens."

Beverly giggled. "She's quick!"

"Yeah but not as quick as her Dad when he left." Richie mocked, looking around at his friends for approval. In turn, they just stared at him.

"Come on then." Lily grinned.

Lily and Richie locked hands and the war began, the other kids watching with laughter. Surprised by how strong Richie actually was, Lily almost lost her balance from Eddie but kept her composure. Stan was different to lose to. She didn't detest him and want to hit him with her shoes every time she saw his face. Richie on the other hand, there was no way she would let him beat her at anything.

"What's wrong, Richie? Can't beat a weak little girl?" Lily taunted shoving him as hard as she could.

Richie and Bill wobbled slightly but regained stability again. "Nah, I'm just being nice."

"I didn't realize nice was in your vocabulary."

"Oh yeah, I'm real nice. Ask your mother."

Lily glared. "Apparently that's all you've got on me. But guess what?" She squeezed her fingers over top of his and then pulled him hard to the left, which caused Richie to finally fall.

Bill went under for a second but then came back up with a chuckle. He rubbed a hand over his face and smiled at the girl who whooped and cheered.

"You'll always lose when your ego is bigger than your dick!"

"Doesn't have to be that big then," Stan snickered.

Eddie helped her off of his shoulders and another splashing fight between all of them ensued.

Bill and Beverly were away from the group slightly and Lily couldn't help but look over at them and smile to herself as she watched Bill stare over at Beverly, clearly in awe. When Beverly turned and looked at him, he shyly looked away which earned a sweet smile from her. It was kind of funny how relationships just bloomed out of nowhere, or at least were obvious about starting to. The way Bill looked at Beverly was the way Lily longed for anyone to look at her. It was almost like right out of a cheesy romance movie and she loved it.

For once, Lily was actually enjoying herself immensely and her belly hurt from the laughter that erupted from it continuously. She didn't think she'd ever enjoy anyone's company the way she was enjoying theirs. She would be caught dead before she admitted it, but she was even enjoying having Richie around too; even if he was a trash mouthed little shit.

And for once, any fears and dread about what was awaiting her back home was gone. For a few moments, she completely forgot who she was and that was the greatest feeling she had ever felt.

What could possibly go wrong?


	5. Chapter 5

_**F I V E**_

Time seemed to stand still.

Hours passed and no one seemed to notice, or care for that matter.

Lily stood sat among the boys and looked at each one of them as they stared at Beverly who was laying down on a flat rock letting the sun dry her off; her eyes were closed and she had large sunglasses on that shielded them. She couldn't help but roll her eyes with a smirk. Each of them looked like a deer caught in headlights, and like they had never seen a female up close before. Lily snickered and then giggled out loud when Beverly turned her head towards them. In a panic of being caught, all four of them quickly looked away, clearing their throats and pretended as if they weren't looking at her at all and were busy doing something else.

Richie grabbed a hold of Ben's backpack and began to frantically search through it to try and look distracted. The other boys tried to look busy as well, doing what Lilli wasn't even sure.

Richie suddenly chuckled and he changed his voice dramatically to sound as though he was an announcer on a important news cast. "Newsflash Ben, school's out for summer!"

"Oh that? That's not school stuff." Ben replied simply, looking at the books.

Richie then pulled out a postcard, there was something neatly written on the back. "Who sent you this?"

Ben suddenly grabbed it and gave no one that chance to read what it had said. "No one!" Muttering the word jeez, he was hasty to shove it back it into the bag.

Lily couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Jeez Richie, don't you ever keep your hands to yourself?"

"I don't know, just ask your Mom."

"You can only wish, bitchy Richie. Not even my Mom would let you pay her so you could touch her and that's saying a lot." Lily spat back rolling her eyes.

Beverly and the rest of the boys looked between each other and a few chuckles couldn't be stopped throughout the small group.

The seating order went from Eddie, Lily, Stan, Richie, Ben, Bill and Beverly was sitting in the spot she was when the boys stared at her.

Richie grabbed a hold of the folder that stuck out from Ben's bag and examined it slightly. "What's with the history project?"

Ben seemed nonchalant about it. "Oh, well when I first moved here I didn't really have anyone to hang out with. So I just started spending time in the library." He told him.

Richie scoffed. "You went to the library? On purpose?"

Beverly pushed up from her spot and joined the rest of the group. Sitting beside Bill, who watched her for a minute in complete awe. "Oh I wanna see." She smiled.

"What's the Black Spot?" Stan asked.

"The Black Spot was a nightclub that was burned years ago by that racist cult." Ben explained.

Bill looked back at Beverly. His eyes darting from her once long curly red locks to her curious eyes. "Y-y-your hair."

Her facial expression went from curious to slightly confused.

"Your hairs beautiful, Beverly." Ben quickly spoke up, which caused a slight frown from Bill.

Beverly tucked a piece behind her ear. "Oh right.. thanks"

Richie suddenly broke up the awkward tension, holding the folder out. "Here, pass it."

Lily watched as everyone passed the folder around and she examined the pages carefully when it was her turn. How could such a dinky little uneventful town like Derry be filled with such unsolved and creepy mysteries?

"Why is it all murder and missing kids?" Richie asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Derry's not like any other town I've been in before. They did a study once and, it turns out people die or disappear at six times the national average." Ben continued.

"You read that?" Beverly asked, also leaning forward and awaiting her turn to see the folder herself.

"And that's just grown ups. Kids are worse. Way way worse" Ben looked around at everyone slowly with a small shrug. "I've got more stuff if you want to see it." He suggested.

Lily instantly perked up. It was an odd sensation for her though. The only person's company she ever cared about having was her little sister's, yet she found herself not quite ready to leave everyone. "Yeah, that would be sick! I love murder mystery stuff. Especially if it's involving where I live. Let's go!" She grinned.

Richie rolled his eyes. "That's so weird. Why would you even like that stuff?"

Lily's expression dead panned and she glared over at him. "It's a good studying method that prepares me for when I kill you."

Richie held his hands up defensively. "Jeez, you seriously must be on your time of the month. Like every day."

Lily couldn't help but let out a small chuckle and within a few minutes, the group had their clothes back on and were biking towards Ben's house. Lily smiling over at Beverly who purposely kept her pace up to hers.

When they reached Ben's house, everyone easily followed him up to his room to look at the collection of articles he continued to boost about.

"Ben?" She called out as he got to the very top of the stairs and she remained at the bottom.

He turned and looked at her, the rest of the group also stopping and looking at her. A slight flush of embarrassment crept into her cheeks and she nervously picked at her thumb nail.

"Um, could I maybe use your phone quickly? I just want to call my little sister and make sure she's alright."

Ben's chubby cheeks lifted into a bright smile. "Sure, it's just around the corner in the kitchen."

"Thanks." She smiled back.

And at that, she rounded the corner and quickly lifted the yellow phone from its platform that mounted firmly to the floral wallpapered wall. So much yellow.

As she dialed Tessa's friend's number, she looked around the kitchen a little more and examined the furniture as the dial tone stirred and began to ring. There was a small wooden table with a pastel laced table cloth along with yellow fake leather chairs, the cabinets were white with painted yellow daisies by the handles. The sink was even littered with yellow cloths and clean but drying yellow dishes and pans. Lily wasn't sure she had ever seen so much yellow in her entire life, let alone in one single room. Her worry about what the living room possibly looked like faded when a voice broke through her thoughts.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Oh, sorry. It's Lily, Tessa's older sister. I'm just calling to make sure she's okay and having fun. Can I talk to her quickly?" She smiled into the phone.

"Uh.." the other end was silent for a second. "We haven't seen Tessa all summer. She isn't here, sweetie."

Lily's heart froze and then suddenly felt like it was going to explode from her chest. "Wh-wh... are y-you sure?"

"Positive. I can let you know if I end up seeing her though."

The woman's voice suddenly started to crackle and sound far away. Lily slowly pulled the phone away from her face and stared down at the oozing red liquid that poured from the receiver in horror. Touching her face slightly, she realized it was all over her cheek and dripping down her chin.

A sudden maniacal laughter proceeded from the other end, piercing Lily's ear drum it seemed. The fear in Lily's eyes swelled into hot tears and she slammed it down with a scream, instantly running for the front door.

Lily didn't know what was going on, but she had to find her sister. She couldn't process what had just happened, but she had to find Tessa. No matter what. She was practically gasping for air as the sobs left her lungs and she was instantly stopped at the front door by Richie who grabbed her by the arms.

For the first time, his dark eyes were full of concern and worry and not humour. "Peanut Buttercup, are you okay? What's wrong? What happened to your face?" He used his thumb and wiped a smear of blood off and looked at it and then back to her, his eyes wider than usual.

"Some-something happened to Tessa. I-I-I-" She couldn't breathe. "I have to go find her!" She cried trying to break free from his grasp.

"I'll come with you! It's better than some history lesson anyway."

"No!" Lily took a deep breath. Out of everyone to see her like that, it would be him. Again. "I don't need your help. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." He argued, his grasp still not loosening.

"P-please Richie. Just t-tell everyone I'm sorry that I had to leave. I'll find you guys later." She attempted to flee again and he stopped her once more.

"Let me help you, Peanut Buttercup. If she's lost, wouldn't it be smarter for more than one person to try and look for her?"

Lily scanned his face through her damp eyes. He looked sincere and she hated it. Years of silly banter and playful but mean comments and now this? Why? Why then? She couldn't help but glare, her chest rising quickly in and out, her hands shaking still. "You'd just love to rub it in my face that you helped me, wouldn't you?"

Richie grinned. "You say this like you don't already know it. Of course I would. Now let's go before it gets too dark to look."

Lily sighed, her heart still feeling like it was going to thud right out of her chest and rip into a million threads. "Fine, but don't think I owe you anything because of it, Tozier."

"I wouldn't dream it." He teased back.

Within a minute, they were both quick to mount their bikes, leaving their friends behind without a word and biking off into the distance.

Lily wasn't sure where to even start looking but she knew if her mother had anything to do with Tessa being missing, she wouldn't be far.

And that's exactly where she unconsciously was peddling to; Richie not far behind.


	6. Chapter 6

_**S I X**_

"Slow down, Peanut Buttercup! I can hardly keep up." Richie called out, desperately pedalling his bike to ensure he could at least try and match Lily's speed.

Lily's eyes were focused, her heart racing still. She wasn't sure if it was because she was pumping the metal slates that controlled the speed of her bicycle so hard or if it was because she was still scared.

"Wow, it must be some kind of record that something moves faster than your mouth, Rich." Lily's face remained the same, unchanged in emotion as she called back to him.

"Very funny."

"I thought so."

"Seriously, you should be a comedian."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep, because then I could be in the front row throwing tomatoes at your head."

"You wouldn't be allowed anywhere near any of my shows. There would be posters to keep you out, I'd make sure of it."

"Pft, you think that would stop me? Man, you don't know me at all."

"That's probably a good thing at this point."

"Your loss."

Lily was surprised to not hear a mom joke, but didn't dare question it out loud. It was nice to have a distraction momentarily, even if it was because of Richie.

Within a minute or two, they reached the Reese residence and Lily stood in the walkway, visibly shaken, her bike at her feet.

Richie held his bike and looked at her, concern apparent on his own pale face. He fiddled with the handle grips and looked over at Lily. "You really think she's in there?"

"I hope not," she mumbled in return, her eyes glued to the still pile of bricks that held all sorts of secrets and horrible memories inside.

"Well. Let's go then."

"Richie," Lily suddenly turned and he stopped mid step, blinking at her furiously, his dark eyes larger than usual. Due to her mother's terrible comments about him a few nights prior, she didn't want there to be anymore trouble, and didn't want Richie to be thrown into the mess more than he had already dived himself into. "I've got this. If you hear yelling or something breaking, then come in. But only then."

Richie rolled his eyes. "You're such a geek, you know that?"

"Promise me, Richie."

"Whatever."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

Lily inhaled deeply, gave him a half hearted smile and then headed to the front door. She turned briefly to see Richie's brown eyes widen with worry- a look she wasn't used to seeing from him, concerning her at least.

Lily's fingers locked around the door handle and quickly, she made her way inside, looking around at the clouded air, her ears ringing from the loud incoherent noise that emanated from the television down the hall. Her heart was pounding so loudly through her chest, the voices that echoed sounded like whispers.

Cautiously, she made her way down the hallway and stopped at the entrance of the living room. Her mother sat on the couch, hunched over the coffee table cutting up what appeared to be tobacco, a limp but lit cigarette hanging from her dry and cracked lips.

Lily's stomach twisted and she feared that the words that wanted so desperately to escape would remain inside of her. She looked around, hoping to see some sign that her little sister was there.

"What are you looking at?"

Lily's attention snapped back to her mother, whose drunken gaze was practically burning right through her.

"Where is Tessa?"

Her mother's face stayed unchanging.

"Tessa. My sister."

Lily took a step backwards when her mother suddenly stood up and pointed at her, slurring incoherent words at first. "She's better off where she is. She's no good just like you. Just like- just like her father."

"Where," Lily's voice was shaking. "Where is Tessa?"

A cruel smile then curled into her lips. There was something suddenly different about her mother's appearance. It was almost as if her features began to disfigure right before Lily's eyes. Her drunken eyes drooping even more, her skin turning a sickening grey colour; even her mouth seemed to droop.

"Tessa is where all the good children are now. She floats." Her mother's voice deepened suddenly and came out as more of a growl. "They all float."

Lily's eyes brimmed with tears again and she slowly shook her head. "No... NO! Where is my sister you evil bitch?!"

"And soon, you and your little friends will float too!"

There was a sudden and loud roar that ripped through the air. Lily's mother's face split open widely and what appeared to be thousands of teeth sprouted viciously, dripping with immense amounts of salvia.

The creature that seemingly took Lily's mother's place lunged forward quickly, and where her hands used to be were replaced with what could only be described as large talons, directly aiming for Lily's neck.

Lily let out a terrified ear piercing scream and scrambled to get away from the creature she was convinced was no longer her mother. Knocking into a side table, a large lamp fell to the floor and its glass shattered everywhere, its sound echoing loudly.

"Richie!" She screeched. "RICHIE!"

Its large talons went directly into the stand and when Lily stumbled backwards and hurriedly away further, what appeared to still be her mother's head twisted abruptly so that it was practically sideways.

"He can't save you, or Tessa. No one can."

Another roar masked the sobs that Lily couldn't control as she ran down the hallway, desperate to get away from whatever the hell had just tried to attack her. Her heart felt like it was going to implode in fear and her legs were heavy like bricks, almost refusing to work to ensure she got to safety.

It followed her, its feet which were definitely no longer human stabbing the ground and leaving huge indents in the wooden floor with every step it took.

"You can't escape, Lily. Just give up. You can float too."

A loud evil laugh echoed from inside of it.

Lily let it another scream and ran to her bedroom door. She reefed on the handle only to be disappointed by how unwilling it was to open. Fear ripped through her further and she swore every part of her body was viciously shaking. She looked around in a panic, trying every other door on her reach before losing her balance and tumbling over, the impact of the ground harsh beneath her. Falling into the wall, she knocked over a painting that had sloppily been hung up months prior. It fell and the frame broke loudly beside her, sending shards of wood and glass everywhere.

The creature was practically hovering over top of her, its salvia dripping onto her. "I told you, you can't escape."

Lily began to sob so heavily she was practically gasping for air. This was it. This was the end. Lily would never get to grow up. She would never get to experience high school, the dread of finals, the feeling of a first love, the butterflies from a first kiss. She would never feel the anxiety and excitement of graduating high school, trying to figure out what was next. She would never get to experience the pleasure, and displeasures even, of being an adult; of buying her first car, or renting her first apartment. She would never get to experience any of it and her fear quickly turned into sadness.

Opening its mouth again, the thousands of teeth appeared once more and came directly for her face.

And Lily braced herself for what was about to come.


	7. Chapter 7

**N**

The small baby cooed.

She was the most perfect person Lily had ever seen, curled up in a soft pink blanket, with porcelain like skin and hair as dark as the night. She was beautiful.

At the tender age of six, Lily had promised her sister right then and there as she stood on her tiptoes to see her sleeping inside of the bassinet that she would always be safe and loved and protected, no matter who and what came into their lives. Tessa would always have her and she would never, ever have to feel alone or wonder about her self worth. She would be reminded daily of her importance and purpose and Lily promised not only Tessa but herself that one day she would take her away from all of the bad things to come.

And she didnt intend to ever break that promise.

Not even in the face of death.

/

With a desperate scream, Lily grabbed a hold the closet thing she could reach and pushed herself to her feet, lunging forward in hopes to make contact with what appeared to be a mouthful of razor blade teeth.

"Hey!" A familar voice stung her thoughts.

"Peanutbutter Cup! It's me! It's Richie!"

Lily suddenly stopped and gasped, her hands shaking uncontrollably and her eyes brimming with hot tears.

"Richie, I-" she sharply inhaled and then dropped the jagged piece of the broken lamp she had grabbed. "I'm sorry. You weren't there. You weren't-" she then began to sob.

Richie looked at her and then awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck before slowly taking a few steps towards her and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's-it's going to be okay."

Lily's hands covered her face and she continued to cry. "I just want my sister."

"We'll find her." Richie reluctantly and slowly put his arms around her and then pulled her into a hug. "Dont worry, Peanutbutter Cup, we'll find her."

/

Five days had passed and Lily found herself in the middle of the town, watching as hundreds of people from in and around Derry laughed and enjoyed each other's company. There were people playing instruments and selling cotton candy and popcorn. People were dressed up in clown suits and other carnival characters. Lily was sure the different varieties of music being played could be heard from hundreds of miles.

A few mornings before, a missing poster with Tessa's picture and information appeared along side the ever-growing list of other children who seemingly vanished into thin air. Her poster was only a few away from Georgie Denborough's.

Lily's heart felt heavy and she had barely spoken a word to anyone. She knew deep down that these kids were gone, and they were never coming home. Reality was a harsh lesson to learn at such a young age. She just didn't want to believe that the only person who kept her going was one of those children.

"Lily! Hey!"

Turning slowly, Lily's eyes met a pair of excited and happy green ones. It was Bev. Surrounding her was the gang of everyone from the quarry, including a boy named Mike; they were officially dubbed the Loser's club. She gave her a half-heartened smile in response and turned back around.

Bev quickly sat beside her and the boys unhurriedly circled around them. There was silence for a few minutes. Everyone wasn't sure what to do to break the awkward tension, including Lily.

Ben sighed and his attention went to Lily, who sat on top of a picnic bench with her elbows digging into her knees and her head hanging low. "I'm really sorry about your sister. Maybe she just got lost in the woods and will be back any minute."

The eye's belonging to everyone in the Loser's club darted to him, almost as if trying to tell him he was dumb for saying anything and to take it back.

"Way to go Hamburger breath." Richie scoffed.

"Richie, you're not helping. Just shut up." Eddie spat in lower tone.

"Oh, like that's going to help any either. Eat shit, Eds."

Mike went to speak, as did Bev but Lily silenced the impending fight by quickly jumping to her feet. She looked around at everyone and couldn't help but give a small smile. She had never had any real friends, so it was different to realize that she was surrounded by them. Shyly brushing some of her blonde hair from her face, she gave them another smile as they all stared at her, waiting to see what came next.

"I don't know when, or how, but they are gong to find Tessa. I just know it." Her eyes flicked over to Bill. "Georgie too."

Bill nodded and beamed at her. "Y-you're r-right, Lily. They will be f-fine."

Richie shifted uncomfortably and pushed his large glasses up his nose. "Whose up for some cotton candy? I would die for some cotton candy."

Stan smirked, tussling some of his golden curly locks. "Guess you're buying then, hmm Trashmouth?"

Before Richie could protest, everyone let out a laugh and within a minute, he, Stan and Eddie went off to find a carnie that was making cotton candy and naturally, Richie had no shame in loudly complaining the whole time until they were out of ear shot.

The rest of the gang sat together at and on the picnic table Lily had been on. Bill sat on one side of Bev and Ben sat on the other, and Mike sat on the front bench. Lily stood in front of them and kicked at some lose grass beneath her sneakers.

"Hey, look it was great running into you guys but I'm going to head home. Tessa will probably be home any time now and I would hate to not be here." Lily gave them a fake smile. "I hope I see you all around soon."

Bev looked sad but nodded understandably as did the boys. "I can walk you home?" She offered.

Lily smiled for real. "That's okay. Stay. Have fun. Enjoy it for me. I'll see you around."

With a sharp turn, Lily sped off into the trees, her heart heavy but thumping a mile per minute. The further she went, the quicker the sounds of loud horns and never ending instruments playing together slowly started to drown out and fade away.

Eventually, Lily ended up at the top of the quarry, her eyes swimming along with the ripples in the water below. She didn't know how she got there, but with a sigh, she sat down and let her feet dangle. As if on auto pilots, her eyes eventually wandered to the beautiful blue sky. There wasn't a single cloud in sight.

She adjusted her tattered dress and frowned at the hole that had appeared. "That figures."

Lily closed her eyes and let the sun warm up her skin. She could feel the warmth on the roots of her hair and for a moment, she was at peace with herself.

Flashes of memories with Tessa flooded her mind and soon the colours inside of her eyelids that mimicked the suns colours turned into pictures and videos. It was like she was watching home videos if there had ever been.

Spinning in a circle was Tessa, giggling uncontrollably as Lily spun with her. They began giggling along with each other so much that their balance was suddenly wobbly and they could barely stand. Tessa was wearing a bright pink dress and her eyes danced with joy.

Lily giggled out loudly. "First one to fall, loses!"

"You're on!"

The girls spun faster and faster, each trying to use their own theories on what would keep their balance the best, despite getting dizzy.

Tessa's eyes widened as the dizziness suddenly took over and she began to fall to the grass. The grass however changed quickly as she fell. The ground beneath them turned black and they both began falling into what seemed to be a pit of nothingness.

"Tessa!" Lily screamed, reaching for her sister as they continued to fall.

Tessa cried out as they fell further.

"Tessa, grab my hand!"

Tessa was reluctant at first but did reach out. Their fingers brushed together before suddenly Tessa fell faster and right directly towards what appeared to be a large pit of bleeding razor sharp teeth.

Panicked, Lily tried to fall at Tessa's speed to catch up to her and grab her.

"Lily!"

"Tessa!" She shrieked, reaching desperately, her chest aching. "NO!"

Tessa cried out loudly and right before they hit the jaded surface that screamed nothing but a painful death, Lily's eyes shot open.

Letting out a squeal, she sat up quickly and then felt her heart drop as she almost slipped off of the edge of the quarry. Lily scrambled frantically and winced as the randoms shards of rock tore at her hands, but after what felt like an eternity, she got fully back onto the rocky core. Gasping slightly, she collapsed and hardly noticed the small rocks that tore up her elbow. Her hands were on fire.

It took a few minutes for the rhythm in her heart to go back to normal and when it did, she bit back hot tears. She was tired of this. She was sad and alone and all she wanted her sister. Why was that too much to ask? Why did they deserve this?

Instead she was left to have constant nightmares and hallucinations and live like an abused animal, and why? Probably because her mind couldn't and wouldn't process her sister being gone and no one cared to hear her story as it was. Who knew, but she was just plain exhausted in every way she could have been. Lily swallowed hard and let her tears flow freely.

After several hours of crying and watching the sky blacken and be blanketed with bright stars, Lily got up and headed out of the area and back into the main town. She watched her surroundings closely as the streets were deserted and quiet.

As long as she didn't run into Bowers, she was sure she would be fine. Lily got home and watched through a window as her mother lay sprawled out on the couch in the living room, yet again either unconscious due to too much alcohol or other substances. Lily didn't even know what half of them were called.

She so badly didn't want to go home.

Lily bit at her thumb nail for a few minutes. Flashes of her childhood best friend invaded her mind and she knew. She knew she would be safe there, even if time had tried to separate them. She knew she was always safe around them.

Since kindergarten they had been as close as two people could be. They were almost impossible to tear away from each other and the other kids around Derry seemed to forget that.

It was the 3rd grade that it finally happened, however. Two years in kindergarten and three years in public school they were constantly with one another; and watching her best friend truly be ripped away from her due to who her mother was broke a piece in Lily that she knew she would never get back.

It took her fifteen minutes to get there but when she did, she didn't even hesitate to rap heavily on the window. Something started to feel weird and that scared her. Lily wasn't sure if it was just because it was so late at night and she was breaking the town's curfew, or if it was something else but she didn't want to stick around and find out. She just wanted to be inside somewhere, anywhere at that point.

When the curtains suddenly flew open and a confused boy appeared looking around wildly, Lily couldn't help but smile. He opened the window and finally their eyes met. His large brown eyes widened.

"Lily? What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

"Hi Eddie," Lily smiled again.


	8. Chapter 8

**EIGHT**

"Are you crazy? If my Mom sees you she'll kill us both and ask questions later!" He whispered loudly. Eddie looked behind him quickly and then reached his arms out to help her climb in. "Hurry up before I change my mind."

Lily giggled and took his offer and climbed into his bedroom with his help. Usually when she would sneak into his room to spend time with him, she timed it in a way where his mother wouldn't be home, but she was this time, and Lily didn't care. She watched as he quickly ran and locked his door, dodging the random action figures and comic magazines that littered the floor. "I guess some things really don't change, huh?"

Eddie's look of panic melted into a smirk. "Don't lie, you loved reading these with me and playing G.I. Joes. I think we lost count of how many different ways we slaughtered all of those Barbie dolls." He reminisced, still being cautious of the volume of his voice.

Lily couldn't help but smile at him. God how she missed the way they used to be. He was her always friend. During thunder storms she would climb through his window, during times where her mother was in a drug induced coma or drunk angry rages, she was sheltered in the boy's room.

Her only safety net ever had been Eddie's house and Eddie's presence. They used to be inseparable but because of who her mother was, Eddie's mother put a harsh stop to the only source of comfort she had and that was her son's friendship. Eventually, Eddie's window became bordered up and even he couldn't sneak out to her. Eventually, their friendship became in class and any outside time they could get. The day Lily lost her best friend was another day a piece of her had died. He was all she had and that too was ripped away from her.

People seemed to forget and just not notice their friendship any longer. Lily often said she had no friends except Bella Burke but that was to save the explanation that her very best friend had to be so in secret. The less people realized it was probably better for both of them. He would forever be her always friend, even if it was hidden. Things just hadn't been the same for long time.

She smiled to herself slightly as a flash back of when they were very little flashed through her mind.

 _Four-year-old Lily sat cross legged in the sand box, her puffy pink romper filthy from the sand she was digging in to give her castle a deep moat. Her blonde hair was put in pigtails with matching pink bows and her little lip was in a pout. "Richie Tozier, if you don't give me my sand shovel back I'm going to tell!"_

" _Go ahead pig head! I don't care!" The little boy with big dark curls and glasses almost larger than his face bellowed back, the freckles that scattered his small face clear under the hot sun that beamed down on them brightly._

" _You're a mean boy!"_

" _You can play with my shovel." A little voice came._

 _Lily turned and standing above her was a little boy with wavy brown hair in a red plaid shirt and Jean shorts. He was holding a fancy blue shovel. It was even cooler than hers._

" _Okay. Do you want to help me? My castle needs a king!"_

 _His eyes lit up. "Yes! My name is Eddie Kasbrack." He sat down beside her happily and gave her the shovel. He watched as she excitedly began to dig again._

" _And I am Queen Lily Reese. I think you will make a fine king mister Eddie." She smiled, her front teeth missing._

 _He smiled back._

" _Hey guys, can I play with you too?" Richie suddenly asked. He held Lily's shovel out with a pout._

 _Lily debated it for a minute with a frown before shooting Eddie a look. She shrugged. "Only if you say sorry and promise to be nice."_

" _I'm sorry, Peanut Butter Cup. I promise I'll be nice."_

" _Welcome to Castle Reese, Richie! And stop calling me that! I hate that!"_

The two became quiet and awkwardly looked around.

"I'm surprised your Mom let you have a lock for your door." Lily finally spoke with a playful tone.

"She didn't," he shrugged. "But a guy has to have some privacy." Eddie walked over to his bed and plopped down, looking at Lily as if to invite her to sit with him.

Lily did and then looked around further. His room really didn't change at all, except that he had a bigger bed. The walls were littered with several comic characters, some of which were from the actual comics, others were just posters or drawings that Eddie had done himself or found in articles. The colour scheme was red, brown, black and white and Lily couldn't help but smile to herself when she remembered that she was the one that helped him pick out the colours to begin with.

"Hey Eddie," she said softly staring down at her feet. Eddie had grabbed a near by comic and had began flipping through the pages but stopped and looked over at her. "Tessa's dead, isn't she?"

Eddie's large brown eyes softened and he watched as the girl he had grown up being attached to shook in sadness. "I don't know, Lily." And he really didn't. He put the comic down and put an arm around her. "Whatever happens I'm here though."

Lily put her head on Eddie's shoulder and wept silently.

The two stayed like this for what felt like hours and talked into the morning, and eventually the sky had began to trickle with colour and then the sun began to rise.

It rose beautifully. The sky was crisp with orange and yellow and purple. The window blew lightly but the fresh scent of tree saplings was everywhere. In such a messed up time, it was refreshing to catch a breath of fresh air- literally, for Lily.

She had snuck back out the window quietly and giggled to herself when she could see Eddie's mother open the door with huge plates full of steaming food. Lily was down the street and shook her head with a grin. The woman was practically the size of the house Eddie was stuck in, it was no wonder she ate portions the size of it. Her tummy growled however at the mere thought of food much less let alone the sight.

That was another thing Eddie had always done for her. Any time that she had ever gone hungry, it wouldn't be for long. Eddie often went without eating a meal because he knew he always had access to another whenever he wanted.

Lily smiled to herself once more as she walked down the creek that seemingly divided everyone's property through the whole town. Sleepiness crept into her and she wondered how far exactly from her house she was, regretting not sleeping more at Eddie's. That's basically all they did anyway was talk for hours about nothing and everything and then they would sleep. Lily was sure she was a comfort to Eddie in a similar way he was to her too.

She kicked pebbles lightly as she continued to walk and then froze on the spot when an all too familiar voice echoed in the air which caused her skin to prickle and caused every hair to stand up.

"Stupid girl," it was Henry. "I told you it wasn't over."

Lily didn't want to turn around. She was afraid to see how many of his cronies were with him or to see if he was alone even frightened her. Either way, she knew it wasn't going to end well. With a hard swallow, she turned and saw him standing alone about 50 feet away. He could have easily rushed the distance and did whatever he wanted and Lily knew there wasn't much of anything she could do if he did.

"What do you want, Bowers?"

He stepped forward. "To start what I finished." Henry's eyes looked dark, the large bags under his eyes told the story of his sleepless nights and his blonde mullet was wild. He was wearing jean shorts and a bright yellow muscle shirt.

Lily took a step back. "Leave me alone, Henry. I really don't want any trouble right now."

She didn't want to admit that she was afraid, but she was. She was very afraid.

Henry let out a low chuckle and then suddenly looked as if he was about to sprint right at her. "Oh sweetheart, it's entirely too late for that. You've had this coming for a while."

And he did just that. He ran at her at full force, Lily only managing to let out a shrill scream and run two steps in the other direction before he was on her.

She could feel his fingers gripping her throat harshly as those crazy eyes stared down at her. No one would be around to help and even if they were, she knew they would turn a blind eye to this. She closed her eyes and mentally said goodbye as she choked harshly, his grip tightening to the point where his knuckles turned white. He had forced her to the ground and had began to choke her with both of his hands, his red pocket knife dangling from his belt.

This was it. This was the end. She was going to die all because of a mullet-haired punk with daddy issues.

At least now she could be with Tessa, _wherever she was_.


	9. Chapter 9

*TRIGGER WARNING. There is descriptive violence and assault in this chapter, so to anyone that this may trigger I apologize and would like to let you know in advance to avoid any such triggers. Please go ahead and skip this chapter if that is something that does so. All my love. xx*

Nine

Henry's fingers dug into Lily's neck further. With a maniacal laugh, Henry put his face closer to Lily's. She could smell his breath, it reeked of peppermint and stale smoke, and it was hot on her skin. "You're going to wish you just said yes." He whispered.

She dug her nails as deep as she could into his skin and let out a gurgled cough as he didn't even flinch. His skin underneath her fingernails ripped and began to bleed but his eyes remained wild.

"Henry...P-please." She pleaded between quick gasps, digging into his wrists even harder. Any breath was better than none. She flailed as best as she could and he squeezed harder.

Lily's vision began to grow spotty and she coughed out loudly yet again, desperately still trying to fight the boy off. Her head felt like it was going to burst. His forehead beaded with sweat as he squeezed even harder.

"I love it when you ask so politely." Henry smirked down at her.

He let go suddenly when her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her rosy cheeks began to lose colour. With a harsh wheezing, Lily let go of Henry and laid there breathing in as much as she could as tears rolled down her face. She regretfully opened her eyes only to be met by a blow from Henry's fist. He hit her twice more and watched as her head lightly swayed back and fourth.

Through her puffy eyelids as her head fell to the right, Lily's heart rate spiked when she made eye contact with a man distant in the woods. He wore a puffy white suit with large pompoms tasseled on the front of it and he had bright orange hair. She didn't know whether she should try and scream for help or just let Henry finish her off. The creepy man stared at her with an unnerving grin. Blood dribbled down his chin.

Unexpectedly, a voice ripped through the air which startled them both even though Lily was still half out of it.

The man was gone.

Henry grabbed Lily harshly and held her tightly, looking around.

"Hey!"

It was Bill. Thank GOD it was Bill.

Lily let out a chortled cough as Henry was back at her throat, challenging Bill in a sense.

"L-let her g-go B-Bowers!" He was standing beside his bike, gripping the handlebars harshly.

Henry laughed, slowly looked back to her and then roughly shoved her to the ground all the way, chuckling as she gasped for air for what seemed to be the millionth time. Lily immediately moved to get away from him, despite the rocks cutting up her hands further. Just like they had done when Henry and his cronies had attacked her and Beverly weeks prior. She began to cough hard again.

"Or what? You gonna throw another rock at me B-Billy b-boy?" Henry mocked, motioning to the fresh injury that was still on his forehead. Man, what Lily would have done to be apart of the rock war that involved him getting his ass handed to him.

Bill pushed out his kickstand and took a few steps away from it. "Just leave her alone, you stupid inbred hillbilly fuck." Not a stutter to be heard. He stood his ground with a glare and even though he shook with fear, he didn't look like it.

Henry let out a dark chuckle once more. "When are you stupid little shits ever going to learn?" He suddenly darted forward at him, his fists balled up and rage in his eyes. "Guess I'll have to teach you yet again not to fuck with me!"

Just as Henry reached Bill and had a hold of his shirt while Bill got ready for the impact, a searing pain ripped through his head. He looked down at his hand in surprise as it dripped fresh blood from touching where his head hurt. He looked around crazily and then realized that Lily had thrown a massive rock.

"Get away from him! Or you'll be sorry." She bellowed out, her voice shaking tremendously. Henry remained still, holding on to Bill's shirt tighter.

"I'm serious!" Lily whipped another rock and stared coldly as the boy just barely dodged taking another to the head.

"And what are you going to do, you stupid little tramp? Beat me to death with them?"

Lily flipped open his red pocket knife that she had quickly grabbed as he threw her to the ground and held it forward. Henry looked down at his belt quickly and then glared back up at her.

"Let him go, or I'm going to stab you with your own knife! I mean it!"

Henry stayed there in a challenging stance. "Guess I better break your neck before she gets to me then, hmm?"

Henry grabbed at Bill's throat and painfully punched him in the stomach which caused him to let out a loud breath of hurt filled air.

Lily knew she couldn't fight him, he was much stronger, faster and bigger but she launched herself forward regardless and did the only thing she could. She threw her arm out, her heart racing a mile a minute as the blade connected into Henry's arm. He let out a wail as the metal sliced down his tanned skin and left a deep bleeding wound. He shoved Bill forward and staggered away from him, holding his arm and staring down at it in disbelief.

"If you don't fuck off right now, I'll do it again! Except this time I won't miss. You won't ever touch me, or him or any of them again!"

Henry's hardened expression never changed. He slowly sauntered away while nodding his head and holding his arm. "I told you before this wasn't over. And that still stands. Just you wait." He said pointing at her, the dripping down his knuckles. "Now you're really going to get what's coming to you." His eyes turned to Bill who was slowly standing back up while holding his stomach. "That goes for you too, Denbrough. And all your little buddies too."

Before they knew it, he was gone and they were left standing in the creek, both breathing heavily, Lily's hands raw and her face red and puffy from where Henry had hit her multiple times .

"A-are you o-okay?" Bill asked finally before making his way to her.

Lily was shaking and holding the knife still that dripped Henry's blood. Cringing, she threw it far away from both of them and then slowly nodded. "Yes. What about you?" She looked at him as he continued to hold his stomach.

Bill noticed Lily notice and then let go. It didn't even really hurt anymore, he wasn't sure why he was still holding himself like he was. He let out a laugh. "Y-yes. He's done w-worse to me."

Lily frowned. "You saved me, you know."

Bill smiled shyly. "It was n-nothing. If, if anything it w-was you that s-saved me."

"You barely even stuttered when you were yelling at him, it was impressive." She grinned.

Bill blushed. "Well, t-talking isn't my s-strong suit but I'm glad you're okay."

The two smiled at each other nervously and then Bill ran his hand through his hair. "Hey, w-we should clean that up. It l-looks l-like it hurts." He said pointing to her lip.

Lily shrugged. "Yeah, it hurts a little." She gingerly touched it and let out a nervous laugh.

"C-come on then." He smiled.

Before Lily knew it, the two of them had biked and walked over to his house and she was sitting at his kitchen table surrounded by a bunch of first aid items. It was almost like she was back in Beverly's place getting cleaned up again. Except this time Bill didn't have injuries too like Beverly did.

"How's your stomach?" She wondered, flinching as Bill dabbed some cold and stingy liquid on her busted lip with a small cotton ball.

"Oh, it's o-okay now. Don't worry about m-me, Lily. L-let's just worry about y-you."

She watched the boy delicately tend to her aching face. A twinge of sadness ripples through her as she thought about the times that Bill's little brother probably ran to him with a scrape. Lily smiled at Bill half heartedly as he dabbed alcohol on the cut up skin that seemed to cover her. It didn't even sting.

"Hey Bill," she said softly. Bill's eyes met with hers and swam with wonder. He was adorable and Lily had never really noticed until then. "Thank you for back there."

"I mean," Bill turned and dunked a fresh cotton ball in the liquid before going back over spots on Lily that he felt he had missed. "I-it was nothing."

"It was everything to me." Lily beamed.

Bill's cheeks flushed crimson and he looked away from her. He cleared his throat. "T-there. A-all better."

Before Lily could thank him again, there was a loud pounding at the door. Both of them shot to their feet and Lily looked down his hall with concern overtaking her. They exchanged looks before Bill made his way to see who was clearly trying to be heard. Lily remained standing where she had stood. Her heart felt as if it was going to pound out of her chest.

Looking around nervous, Lily's eyes stopped on a family picture that hung crookedly on the Denbrough's fridge. Bill was giving Georgie a piggy back and their parents looked at them happily. The different coloured leaves that seemingly dripped from the branches behind them marked the beginning of fall and Lily couldn't help but frown. Her heart hurt for Bill and she felt selfish for suddenly thinking of her own sister.

Richie's signature laugh filled the halls and Lily sighed out in relief. Bill appeared in the door frame to the kitchen and smiled at her. "E-everyone is here. W-want to go f-for a bike ride or s-something?"

Lily smiled back but then looked down at her sneakers. "I didn't bring my bike though."

"T-that's okay. You can ride with o-one of us."

Bill and Lily both exited his house and she was met with all of the Losers except Beverly. "Hey guys." She said.

All of them, especially Eddie, noticed her face. While Bill did a good job cleaning her up and reduced the risk of infection, it was still evident that she had been in trouble. Henry's finger prints still felt just as hot around her neck.

"What happened? Are you okay?!" Eddie dropped his bike and before Lily knew it, she was being hugged by the small dark haired boy and being examined over.

Lily nodded. "Yes, I'm okay. Bill saved me from Bowers. The creep."

Richie turned uneasily. It was evident he wanted to say something but that he stopped himself. Lily wasn't sure what his problem is. Stan also moved from his bike and was close to her looking her over along with Eddie. Eddie looked around at his friends and then cleared his throat. He didn't want them thinking he had a thing for Lily but he also didn't want them to know about their secret ongoing friendship in fear that something would be said and it would be over.

"I'm just glad you're okay." Mike spoke.

Ben nodded along with him. "I'm glad Bill was there. We're all glad you're okay, Lily."

Before Lily could say anything in return, Bill protested. "I-it wasn't just me. Lily was a b-bad ass all on her o-own. She s-stabbed B-Bowers with his own knife."

The boys looked at her with approving and encouraging grins. "I knew you belonged with us for a reason." Stan smirked putting an arm playfully but carefully around her. "Come on, I'll double you. If you want I mean."

Lily giggled. "Of course."

Richie glared over at them. He was practically pouting at his bike as he shoved his large glasses back up his nose with a finger. "Well, I don't think you were brave. I think you were stupid in fact. Stupider than when Ben thought he could outrun Henry."

"Gee thanks, Richie." Ben scowled at the nerdy looking boy.

Richie shrugged. "You know I'm right."

"No you aren't. It wasn't stupid. Look at what he did to her! I bet you couldn't stab Bowers." Eddie glared over at him as he mounted his bike.

"Yeah, with his own knife at that." Stan chimed in.

Lily couldn't help but smile at the boys defending her.

Richie scoffed. "Whatever. I don't even see why you're defending her anyways. It's not like she's actually apart of this group." He mounted his bike and glanced over at his friends as the remaining boys who weren't on their bikes yet followed suit.

Lily frowned. "What is your problem, Tozier?"

"I think she's a part of the group." Stan said with a shrug.

"Me too." Eddie nodded.

Ben and Mike nodded as well and looked towards Bill. "She's just as m-much apart of t-this group as anyone."

Lily was sitting on Stan's bicycle seat waiting for him to begin to peddle and couldn't help but frown again at the curly haired trash mouth. He always poked fun and was obnoxious but he usually wasn't actually mean about it.

Richie scoffed. "First Eddie, now Bill. Who's next, Mike? Ben? Or is it Stan? Bet that bike isn't the only thing of his you'll be riding today." He muttered harshly, not really looking at or towards anyone.

Lily's heart dropped.

"What is wrong with you? And what the hell are you talking about you jack ass?" Eddie scowled at him. The look on Lily's face was crushing.

"Wow, Richie. I guess you're right. Stupid me. Stupid me for thinking we were actually friends." Lily climbed off of the seat and headed toward the street. "You don't know shit."

The boys began to protest as Lily stormed off but she waved her hand back at them. "It's okay guys. I'll see you around. Thanks you again Bill."

It took everything in her to hold back the hot tears that threatened to spill down her flushed and raw cheeks.

Fuck that loser, she thought. He was wrong.

Why did it matter so much what he thought? It was Richie Tozier of all people! His opinion was that last one that mattered to her, wasn't it?

It didn't take very long until Lily was standing in front of her house. She didn't want to go inside for so many reasons but knew her options were limited in those moments. She was very tired and her face was throbbing. Within minutes, she was inside and was barricaded inside of her room. Her mother was nowhere to be seen, like usual.

The sun had set by the time Lily opened her eyes again. Stars blanketed the gloomy sky. She sighed and stared at the ceiling. The darkness that engulfed her was almost comforting in a sense. Almost.

She wasn't sure how long she laid there just staring. Lily sat up after a while and then ventured over to her window slowly. She looked out into the quiet streets of Derry. Not a car, person or animal was in sight. Man she wished she wasn't alone.

Her heart twinged with hurt as she thought about her sister. She missed those chubby rosy cheeks, the toothy smiles, she missed everything and she couldn't understand where she went or what happened to her. With a frustrated cry, she slapped her hands against the windows frame and put her forehead against the glass.

"Tessa, where are you?" She whispered.

The shadowy figure suddenly but slowly approaching Lily's window surprised her. She jumped out of the frame and then took a few steps back as the figure got close enough.

It was Eddie, but he looked strange.

His clothing was dirty and his normally dark brown hair was dusty. Eddie was never dirty due to the fact that he had a germ phobia. And he never came to her house.

His hand shot to the window and he grinned widely. It was very creepy. His nails which had become very long left marks in the glass as he ran them down it. The noise was enough to make Lily's ears want to bleed.

"Come on Lily," his voice was very deep and scratchy. "Come join your sister and I. Down here, we float." Eddie's eyes went as black as night. "It's your fault, Lily. She's gone. She's dead and buried. And it's your fault."

His head suddenly snapped to the left side and he let out a loud continuing cackle. Bloody drool poured from the side of his mouth. Eddie suddenly vanished but only to quickly reappear down the street. He was charging at the window with a large object, head still broken to the side.

 _"Time to float!"_


End file.
